Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: It appears as if the minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry has no intention to resolve the issue of daily wages employees of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) despite the fact that the lower courts and the Supreme Court including Standing Committees have clearly directed for sorting out this issue on priority basis.

This was stated by the Chairman Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, Senator Muhammad Talaha Mahmood, on Wednesday, while discussing the latest progress regarding regularisation of Daily Wages Employees (DWE) in the FDE.

While expressing annoyance over the lingering issue, Senator Talaha said that apparently it looks like the Capital Administration and Development Division (CA&DD) Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry is superior than the Parliament and the apex court as he ignored their directions.

“Actually Chaudhry intended to send back home these 2050 daily wagers by and large and wanted to appoint his blue eyed persons on political basis for getting the goodwill of voters of his constituency”, Senator Talaha alleged.

In response Secretary CA&DD Nargis Ghuloo informed the Committee that her ministry had forwarded the summary in this regard to the Prime Minster (PM) and the Establishment Division (ED), adding that it was decided that these employees should be taken on merit basis while giving them 10 addition marks after passing through the prescribed criteria of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

On this, the Committee Chairman said this statement is old now which has been discussed repeatedly. “What is the logic to assess the merit after the appointments? It is a declared practice that the merit would be analysed before inducting any employee whereas these DWEs are serving in the FDE for the last many years,” he added.

Moreover, the Chairman said that these employees had served for a long time in the directorate and now their age limits had expired.

The Secretary Ghulloo further said that the PM Nawaz Sharif also directed to resolve the issue of daily wagers on priority basis.

On this the Committee Chairman expressed surprise and said that if PM Sharif desired to resolve the issue while the Courts and Committees also desired the same, then which element is lingering the matter, he asked.

While highlighting the pending salaries of the DWEs, the CA&DD’s Ghullo said that her ministry had no mandate in this regard. It can just forward the proposal summary/request to the Finance Division in this regard. “Such a request has been refused from the Finance Division once”, she informed. On this, Chairman Committee directed for pursuing the matter.

A Daily Wages teacher said that they would hold a strike and boycott of classes if the authorities did not resolve the issue of their pending salaries by February 6.

Senator Talha also threatened to highlight the issue on the floor of the house in the upcoming Senate’s Session, adding that being a public representative and a participant in the Committee, it is the responsibility of this Committee to resolve the public issues while the teachers are a most integral part of the society.

When asked about the role of the FPSC regarding the issue, an official from the Commission informed the senators that the FPSC had no mandate to regularise the employees instead it only conducts recruitment tests under the prescribed procedure, he said.

As far as the age issue of these employees is concerned, he said that it may relax the Commission’s rules after the round table discussion of CA&DD minister, Establishment Division and FPSC authorities.

On this, the Chairman Committee Senator Talaha said that the PM office, Chairperson FPSC and Secretaries Finance Division, Law and Justice should be called in the next Committee meeting that would be held on February 6, adding that they will be sent official intimations in this regard.

It is pertinent to mention here that there are 2050 DWEs serving in the FDE for the last many years. Despite approaching the various forums and holding many protests to press their demand of permanent joining, the issue could not be resolved so far. Moreover, their salaries that are only Rs 14000 per month also have been stopped by the FDE authorities due to none availability of sanctioned funds for this purpose.